Cancellation of Dressage Freestyle mars stunning day for Ireland at World Championships

It should have been a night to celebrate for Irish equestrian sport at the World Equestrian Games at Tryon in North Carolina but after a stunning performance by the eventing team came a sting in the tail with the news that the Freestyle dressage event for which Judy Reynolds had qualified has been cancelled.

The eventing team has moved into the silver medal position after three impeccable rounds saw the Irish stay on their dressage score and slot in behind Great Britain on the leaderboard.

Additionally, Sarah Ennis, who delivered one of the three zero scores for Ireland on Horseware Stellor Rebound is in the bronze medal position in the individual standings with Padraig McCarthy in touch in seventh place.

Sam Watson had set the Irish team on its way with a flawless round while Cathal Daniels came home clear but with 3.6 time penalties.

The show jumping phase is due to take place on Monday, having been put back from tomorrow due to concerns about heavy rain overnight and there was a similar postponement for the dressage Freestyle event, but in a statement this evening the organisers stated that the dressage had now been cancelled.

“Despite the best efforts of the whole Tryon 2018 team and the Officials, who have been working on plans for rescheduling since yesterday evening, including meetings with the Chefs de Mission and Chefs d’Equipe, the logistics of putting all necessary elements into place have proved insurmountable,” the statement said.

“As a result, and very regrettably, the Dressage Freestyle will now be cancelled,” it continued.

“This was not an easy decision, but we explored every option, including trying to reschedule the horse departures, and even looking at moving the competition into the indoor with a change of footing, but the logistics of making this all happen are just not possible,” Tryon Organising Committee President Michael Stone said.